Chapter 28
2. If the Original Work Is Twisted (4)
“I’m not very perceptive in that sort of thing.”
“Don’t think you’re only clueless in that area. Seems you overestimate yourself more than you realize.”
Wait, is he sarcastically saying I’m clueless?
“That’s about right.”
Helwidh read my mind again and gave a slow, knowing smile.
Seeing him put on his usual mask again, I felt a slight sense of relief.
It was strange to feel relief at someone hiding their true thoughts, but he was the Emperor.
No one must ever see your true self. Never show your heart, never open up.
Especially not today, when leaders from all nations were gathered.
“So… what is it? What’s going on? Since I’ve already been labeled clueless, should I just be even more oblivious?”
“Of course. You are my secretary; you can do as you wish.”
Even while teasing me, Helwidh gave me a gentle smile.
“Marquis Lantlcia has appeared at the summit.”
“……What do you mean? Marquis Lantlcia, what?”
What kind of nonsense is this?
“I was careless. I should have noticed when there was no reaction….”
Helwidh frowned.
“The President of Liston introduced him as the new secretary.”
“Wha—?”
I blurted out without meaning to.
Why is that man here?
“And he’s the first person to defect from the Imperion Empire to the Liston Republic, so they introduced him at this meeting.”
Defecting?
Horsen had told me earlier that Marquis Lantlcia wouldn’t be coming, and Haven had been in a bad mood since the morning.
So Haven didn’t know either?
“I was surprised too. About ten minutes into the meeting, the President said he had someone to introduce. It was improper, but everyone let it slide. Then the doors opened, and he walked in.”
“This is insane… huh.”
I accidentally cursed and quickly covered my mouth.
Helwidh laughed wryly.
“Yes, it’s madness. A noble house from the Imperion Empire, the first to defect to the Liston Republic, formally introduced as a secretary at a summit meeting….”
I heard teeth grinding—Helwidh’s.
He was glaring at me with a face full of humiliation and fury I had never seen before.
Marquis Lantlcia had crushed Helwidh in the most exquisite way.
No—he had crushed the Imperion Empire itself.
He had been the Emperor’s secretary, gave up his title, and defected to the Liston Republic? And the Emperor didn’t even know until the summit? From that moment, the Imperion Empire was finished.
But how could he defect in just one day?
“I can’t even begin to guess how much classified information he smuggled to Liston…”
“When… did he defect? And as a secretary… No, he even attended state meetings all this time!”
I clenched my jaw so hard my temples ached.
“He said the defection procedure was completed five months ago. Changed his entire name and identity. The elder nobles were all in on it too. How long… how long they kept this from me… haha.”
Helwidh laughed bitterly.
Marquis Lantlcia’s house had been an established noble family since the founding of the Imperion Empire.
And now, that house abandoned its title to defect to the Liston Republic.
What did that mean? That the great houses of Imperion foresaw their country’s decline.
The Imperion Empire is finished. The Emperor is finished. Marquis Lantlcia announced it at the summit.
I hesitated, unsure of what to say, when Helwidh spoke.
“I am completely defeated.”
Hearing that, something welled up inside me.
It was like seeing your child hurt far away…
“I’m glad I appointed you as my secretary. If I hadn’t had one, I would have—”
Even hearing it made my head spin.
Before the summit, there had been a state meeting. I was playing Go with Indelis then.
Marquis Lantlcia had audaciously attended but said nothing until today.
What had he thought when he received my letter yesterday?
I felt a twinge of pity, thinking Helwidh had tricked him—but in reality, we were the ones being played.
I took a deep breath to control my boiling anger.
“See? I told you so.”
My voice trembled, not from sadness, but from fury.
“I said to overthrow everything if necessary. I’ll handle it as a competent secretary, don’t worry.”
“Why do I even have to put up with this!” Helwidh sneered briefly, as if amused that even now I was saying that.
“Don’t despair. Don’t be sad. You’ve been completely defeated. So what are you going to do?”
Helwidh looked at me.
“Will you just sit back, thinking, ‘I’ve reached my limit,’ and step down from the throne?”
Before he could reply, I added quickly.
“Good. It’s better than being stuck in the middle. Falling and climbing back up is easier.”
His eyes flickered, but I ignored it.
“You never even tried to see the Emperor’s capability; you just kept obstructing. Tearing down someone doing well, claiming it’s discipline… Then we rise and say, ‘We grew wings because you’re gone.’”
It was Marquis Lantlcia who, after opposing the late emperor, had raised Helwidh as crown prince, and then placed him on the throne after the emperor’s death.
“Foolish. After defecting long ago, now you dare show your face here? Shameless.”
I muttered bitterly. Helwidh glanced around and snickered.
“This is the garden, you know.”
There were many ears around, even if unseen.
“Let them listen. Are we ashamed? He should be ashamed. Defecting without the Emperor’s permission makes him already a traitor.”
Wait… how was defection possible without the Emperor’s consent?
“Could it… be the work of the former secretary?”
“That ‘could be’ is exactly it. The former secretary forged my signature.”
That was just before I was appointed.
If I had arrived even slightly later, Helwidh would have been crushed in plain sight.
Helwidh, who bullied me under the guise of being Emperor, was in reality a mere figurehead in the grand scheme.
He didn’t even know the greatest house had defected, nor that his signature had been forged…
“So that’s what you meant by the elder nobles being in cahoots.”
This wasn’t just ‘cahoots’—it was practically a single mind.
Damn them. I knew the moment they turned their backs on my father.
“I take some blame. I didn’t check properly at the state meetings… oh no, that Iroel or whatever deliberately hid it. No handover… so really, not my fault.”
Drawing a clean line, Helwidh looked at me in disbelief.
“Even I wouldn’t have imagined Marquis Lantlcia had already defected. Anyway… good. Climb from the bottom.”
“I’m already at the bottom.”
“Then you sink into the mire.”
Helwidh raised an eyebrow as if he could do anything.
“Don’t you dare say it’s not your matter—”
“Do I look like I’m speaking harshly? If the Emperor is imperfect, so am I. Where does my confidence come from?”
Helwidh silently lowered his head.
“I have no excuse.”
“Lift your head. Straighten your shoulders. You’re not doing this as Emperor.”
I didn’t like seeing his shoulders slump, his head droop—arrogant as ever, now humbled.
Helwidh shook his head helplessly.
“Do I dislike what you just said?”
“No?”
“I hate it the most. I despise it. ‘Act like an Emperor… Be an Emperor’… But what my secretary says doesn’t feel wrong.”
“Of course. It’s me.”
I smiled at him.
“I may have lost everything as Emperor, but apparently, luck hasn’t abandoned me.”
“What are you talking about?”
Helwidh smiled softly and stepped closer.
“Because I have you by my side.”
I hesitated, then, as he often did, smiled helplessly.
“Honestly, I thought about defecting myself.”
Helwidh’s expression stiffened.
“But I can’t waste the Tilen mines. They’re in Imperion, not Liston.”
“…Good thing they were granted to us.”
Helwidh frowned, genuinely serious.
“Anyway! Straighten your shoulders. The summit is far from over. Act composed.”
“I will.”
Helwidh nodded as if it were obvious, as if he was used to such things.
I felt a twinge of pity.
Ugh… you really… not just in the original story, but everything you’ve done so far—I’d want to pick up Indelis and run away, blind and deaf… ugh, affection…
I said I’d scold my own child if needed.
Above all, if Helwidh were dethroned like this, it would be awkward for me too.
Our family, granted the Tilen mines, could be in danger, and even Indelis could be at risk.
I lifted my chin and said to Helwidh,
“Let’s climb together. While we’re at it, we’ll catch all the nobles involved, so be ready to sign.”
Soon the break would end.
Helwidh checked his pocket watch, then smiled kindly at me.
“Unbelievable.”
“What is?”
“Until just now, I couldn’t see ahead, but with my capable secretary, I feel like we can rise as far as we want.”
Though still a little sullen, he looked better than before.
I led him to the summit hall.
Helwidh took a deep breath, chest swelling, and grasped the doors.
“Ah, wait a moment.”
I hugged him like I had an hour ago. His large frame stiffened in surprise.
“Cheer up, ugh!”
I intended only encouragement, but Helwidh wrapped me tightly around the waist.
“Em… Emperor?”
He murmured into my neck in a deep, husky voice.
Then, with a brisk, no-nonsense motion, he entered the summit hall.
The words he had whispered to my shoulder slowly sank into my heart.
‘Thank you.’
